Over three quarters of organizations list an active shooter situation as their top safety threat, according to Everbridge, a global leader in critical event management and enterprise safety applications, and a Two Time Winner in the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program.
The New 2018 Active Shooter Preparedness Report, compiled by Everbridge in collaboration with Security Management magazine, focuses on the level of enterprise preparedness for these increasingly prevalent, and potentially tragic and devastating events.
The findings, as compared to Everbridge’s inaugural 2016 report, portrays a corporate environment with heightened security awareness, which has not, however, been translated into actual preparedness efforts by the majority of organizations.
(See how Critical Event Management software gives you one integrated view of threat data, rapidly locate and notify impacted people, more quickly initiate incident response and manage resolution. Courtesy of Everbridge and YouTube.)
Heightened Awareness
75% of respondents listed active shooter situations as the ‘top threat’ they are preparing for, (up from 64% in 2016), and outranking natural disasters, cyberattacks and supply chain disruption concerns.
Additionally, more than twice as many respondents felt that their organization was well prepared for an active shooter incident, (from 19% in 2016 to 40% in 2018).
More than two-thirds also reported that their organization was more prepared than two years ago.
Preparedness Deficits
In today’s constantly evolving modern threat environment, organizations are seeking out new tools, processes and technologies to secure their facilities, locate and account for their people and ensure life safety for all employees.
However, increased awareness and perceptions of preparedness have not translated to actions by a majority of businesses during the past two years.
For example:
- 62 % of survey respondents reported never running an active shooter drill
- 54% have not conducted active shooter education
- Only 15% increased physical security spending
- Only 35% plan to increase physical security spending in the future
“Every second matters in an active shooter situation,” explains Tracy Reinhold, Chief Security Officer of Everbridge.
“The findings show that while corporate recognition around the threat of active shooters has improved, the tangible preparedness measures and location-aware communication infrastructure is not in place to improve safety at the majority of companies nationwide.”
“It’s imperative that we work together to refine our security-related processes and investments.”
“Physical safety is a critical employee engagement issue that corporate leadership must take seriously by turning their concerns into investments.”
(The Everbridge Unified Critical Communication suite helps you get the right message, to the right person, at the right time, so you can reach Jane, Ben or Sam whether they are in the office, on a business trip, or out on the weekend. Courtesy of Everbridge and YouTube.)
Communication Needs to Take Place in Seconds, Not Minutes
The majority of organizations (70%) said that their top concern during an active shooter event is communicating and confirming the safety of impacted employees, as the majority of active shooter situations are over in less than 10 minutes.
80% of employees prefer that it take seconds for their companies to notify them of an active shooter situation.
Yet when asked how long it would take to notify employees of an incident, two-thirds of companies thought that notifications would take minutes.
“These findings directly contradict the idea that organizations are prepared for an active shooter event,” continued Reinhold.
“While no organization can truly be ready to deal with such a chaotic and challenging situation, ignoring the need to have a reliable system in place to effectively locate and communicate with employees, responders and other local officials – and not practicing an organization-wide response to such a situation – proves that improvements can still be made.”
“Moreover, the prevalence and purported elevated concerns around these threats emphasizes the need for corporate leadership and executive teams to more emphatically support the investments and process changes required to ensure employee safety and operational resiliency.”
The 2018 Active Shooter Preparedness Report is based on surveyed responses from over 630 security, facilities, business continuity and emergency management professionals in the fourth quarter of 2018.
To download a copy of the 2018 Active Shooter Preparedness Report, click here.
Everbridge a Two Time Winner in the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program
Everbridge
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Best Mass Notification System-Application
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Safety Connection
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Best Risk, Crisis Management System
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Everbridge Critical Event Management Platform: Visual Command Center
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Everbridge was also a 2017 ‘ASTORS’ Award Winner
The Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program is specifically designed to honor distinguished government and vendor solutions that deliver enhanced value, benefit and intelligence to end users in a variety of government, homeland security and public safety vertical markets.
The 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program drew an overwhelming response from industry leaders with a record high number of corporate and government nominations received, as well as record breaking ‘ASTORS’ Presentation Luncheon Attendees, with top firms trying to register for the exclusive high – end luncheon and networking opportunity – right up to the event kickoff on Wednesday afternoon, at the ISC East registration!
Over 130 distinguished guests representing National, State and Local Governments, and Industry Leading Corporate Firms, gathered from across North America, Europe and the Middle East to be honored among their peers in their respective fields which included:
- The Department of Homeland Security
- The Federal Protective Service (FPS)
- Argonne National Laboratory
- The Department of Homeland Security
- The Department of Justice
- The Security Exchange Commission Office of Personnel Management
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection
- Viasat, Hanwha Techwin, Lenel, Konica Minolta Business Solutions, Verint, Canon U.S.A., BriefCam, Pivot3, Milestone Systems, Allied Universal, Ameristar Perimeter Security and More!
The Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards is the preeminent U.S. Homeland Security Awards Program highlighting the most cutting-edge and forward-thinking security solutions coming onto the market today, to ensure our readers have the information they need to stay ahead of the competition, and keep our Nation safe – one facility, street, and city at a time.
The 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program was Proudly Sponsored by ATI Systems, Attivo Networks, Automatic Systems, Desktop Alert, and Royal Holdings Technologies.
2018 Champions Edition
See the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Champions Edition – ‘Best Products of 2018 ‘ Year in Review’ for in-depth coverage of the outstanding products and services of firms receiving American Security Today’s 2018‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards.’
Nominations for the AST 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program will officially open as of January 1st, 2019 at americansecuritytoday.com.
Enter Early to Maximize Media Coverage of your Products and Services at Kickoff, and Get the Recognition Your Organization Deserves!
And be sure to Register Early for the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Presentation Luncheon at ISC East 2019 to ensure your place at this limited- space event!
